Seumas Milne tells thousands at London rally that Palestinians have a right to kill Israelis

On Nov. 20at ‘Comment is Free’ the Guardian’s Associate Editor, Seumas Milne, explicitly justified the murder of Israelis by Palestinian terrorists, while simultaneously arguing that, as an occupying power, Israel has no right to defend itself.

“So Gazans are an occupied people and have the right to resist, including by armed force (though not to target civilians), while Israel is an occupying power that has an obligation to withdraw – not a right to defend territories it controls or is colonising by dint of military power.

Even if Israel had genuinely ended its occupation in 2005, Gaza’s people are Palestinians, and their territory part of the 22% of historic Palestine earmarked for a Palestinian state that depends on Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. Across their land, Palestinians have the right to defend and arm themselves, whether they choose to exercise it or not.”

So, as long as terrorists who launch violent lethal assaults against Israelis, including suicide bombings and rocket attacks, can claim they weren’t specifically targeting civilians, killing Israelis is justified – a refrain which Milne repeated to an anti-Israel rally on Nov. 24 sponsored by ‘Stop The War Coalition‘.

(Milne’s rhetorical flourish about the Palestinians’ “right to resist” can be seen in the video at roughly 1:20.)

Milne’s CiF essay, as with his speech on Nov. 24, represents incitement – the moral legitimization of lethal attacks against Israelis by the most extreme antisemitic movements in the Middle East under the banner of national liberation, indeed under the guise of “liberalism”!

All Cornish Welsh and Scottish people are entitled to kill him and all muslim invaders as they are occupying our lands. We have the right to legitimately resist against all muslims as Jihad is incumbent upon all of them and therefore they are all soldiers and legitimate targets.

Resistance has always been seen as terrorism by an occupying power. I’m sure the Germans called the Free French ‘terrorists’ during WWII. It’s a matter of perspective, and in current public opinion the perspective is moving from the Israeli narrative to the Palestinian one. This movement of perspective is a bit like what happened to Scientology. At some point journalists got fed up of being harassed for their views and eventually refused to be bullied anymore. Now it’s happening to ‘Ziontology’

realzionist, did you choose a new name? Just kidding, while nothing in this response was germane or accurate, at least this poster seems like he has some functioning brain cells, a designation under which RZ simply doesn’t quality.
As for the post:
1. Nice Nazi reference, though the particulars of Israel and Hamas don’t really led themselves to a “Free French” comparison. I do admire your attempt to say that all of Palestine is the same as Vichy France, since your argument taken to its logical conclusion is that Israel is occupying Israel, and that Hamas is occupying Gaza.
2. There isn’t a moving perspective on Israeli or Palestinian narratives, there’s always been different ones, and depending on who’s cited your pro-Palestinian view is either not news, or not accurate. It is always nice to have assurance from a partisan that his or her take on “public opinion” is 100% accurate because it concurs with an individual opinion.
3. Scientology? Really? That’s a point of any reference in this situation in any way?

You validated my point as soon as you said ‘nazi reference’ It was never intended as such and you know it. I never used that word. I never have. And that’s where your attempts to bully people who don’t hold your views falls flat.

Oh my goodness, you nailed this one! I read Germans and Free French in the context of your killing-Israelis-is-fine post and it pinged my Nazi reference radar! I should apologize profusely to someone. Not you, but someone. Oh and just as a by the way, pointing out that your observations are ridiculous is not bullying, it’s analyzing. You don’t want people saying you’re stupid? Say something smart.

Redo:
“I’m sure the Germans called the Free French ‘terrorists’ during WWII.”
“You validated my point as soon as you said ‘nazi reference’ It was never intended as such and you know it. I never used that word. ”

(1) If France had started the war, along with its neighbours, with the expressed intent of destroying Germany and driving its people into the sea.
(2) The French government had continually opposed international efforts to promote a permanent peace settlement based on mutual recognition.
(3) The authorities in Paris remained committed to a policy of ‘liberating Germany from the Rhine to the Elbe’, and of destroying all of its inhabitants, replacing them with the French.
(4) The Germans had actually withdrawn militarily and unilaterally from France, and
(5) If the French armed forces were firing missiles at German cities.

Ben, agree with you that it’s an awkward comparison which doesn’t fit at all with the Palestinian avowed aim, of which they make no secret, of deliberately targeting Israeli civilians, which is very like how the Nazi blitzkreig was conducted.

“Resistance has always been seen as terrorism by an occupying power. I’m sure the Germans called the Free French ‘terrorists’ during WWII.”

Alex the Free French forces were not the same as the French Resistance,and by the way had nothing whatsoever to do with Vichy France, If you mean the activities of the French Resistance operating inside Occupied France then you are probably right that the Germans called them terrorists.
But I’m interested in why you would attempt to link the activities of Hamas and the other terrorist groups with the French Resistance.
Can you enlighten me as to when the French Resistance fired rockets and mortars at civilian targets inside Germany?
When and where did the French Resistance blow up Pizza Parlours, or buses being used by civilians inside Germany?

There is a huge difference between acts of resistance against a foreign army occupying a country and criminal acts of terrorism, that is acts to terrorise civilians, and those differences are not only historical and factual but also moral.

So Gerald what would you say were the legitimate rights , in resistance terms of an occupied people ? Are they expected to accept it and even like it ? So would you accept attacks on the occupying powers armed forces as legitimate ?

So your question, asked plaintively and repeatedly over the last several days, does not make a whole hell of a lot of sense. Israel pulled out, abandoning the land to the governmental organization now holding and controlling it.

Please note, any legitimate right we determine Hamas to have against Israel, it will also have against Egypt, also a foreign power blockading Gaza’s access to the outside world.

So, please, let me ask you this question that’s so clearly on your mind, what do you think their legitimate rights are, in resistance terms, against a legal blockade by two legitimately threatened neighbors? Propose something, and we can try to hash it out.

There is only a very small problem with your argument. You and Milne are justifying terrorism while sitting in the safety of London You are the kind who are ready to fight to the last drop of blood against the Jews. Naturally the last drop of Palestinian blood. But you are not alone Alex, you have comrades in the Hungarian Parliament too where yesterday one of your fellow travelers – Marton Gyongyosi – a representative of the neo-Nazi Jobbik party – demanded that after Israel’s actions in Gaza the Jews in Hungary must be counted and registered.
Thank you and you comrade Milne proving that anti-Zionism really means the justification of murdering Jews.

Shameless’s speech represent the sheer frustration of the lunatic fringe of the extreme delusional left. Pillar of Defense has left these lunatics gasping. 30 years of presenting Israel negatively has collapsed when Pillar of Defense finished with strong support from all the Western countries. I imagine that they were having a wake over at The Guardian. And the BBC too.

30 years of demonetization down the drain. Oh! The sheer horror of it all.

Clicked on the 2nd link, and after the article mentioned “Israeli war criminals” (there some kind of trial, complete with verdict, in the UK that we missed?) and odious Jonathan Cook, I was surprised they simply didn’t lie about Israel having a plurality positive view last year in the U.S., even on a survey undoubtedly skewed by the BBC contacting people it was familiar with (including the BBC’s views on Israel).
I honestly don’t think negative public opinion of Israel is a major factor in international relations for a simple reasons: much of that negativity comes from one of two groups, people who bitch about Israel but aren’t interested in much direct action, or those who are so extremist (neo-Nazis, the Hard Left) that elected officials don’t give a toss about them in any case.
The most interesting anti-Israel stat I’ve seen lately came from a U.S. poll during Pillar of Defense that showed large majorities of Republicans and independents supported Israeli actions, but a slight majority of Democrats opposed them. I’m much more interested in the future of the Democratic Party in re: Israel than the views of the UK after decades of making it clear they don’t like Israel a lot.

sencar, you are right about the equivocal nature of the UK’s support, along the lines of (by Elmer Phudd aka William Hague) that the UK government supported Israel’s right to defend itself provided that it didn’t try too hard.

If you are reading Beyond Images, then you should give us a more balanced view. But then you were never much of a researcher were you, and you are a blind follower of Greg Philo.

Sencar this is for you:Americans who say the United States should support the Jewish state in the conflict with the Palestinians increased from 60 percent a year ago to 68% today, a survey of voters taken November 6-8 by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner has found.
Those who said they supported the Palestinians dropped from 8% to 7% in that time
Thank you for proving again the delusional nature of a present day Jew hater. The Nazis had dreams about the Wunderwaffen promised by Hitler.

Sorry, Chas, he isn’t: he is a grown man in a pretty powerful position that allows him to make an excellent living while shilling for a group of terrorists with a genocidal antisemitic Charter.
I just watched the clip, and astonishingly, Milne even says that Israel has no right to defend itself “in territories it illegaly occupies” — like Sderot, Beersheba, Ashdod, etc. This is after all the area where 1000s of Hamas rockets have fallen — which in turn led to the recent Gaza operation that Milne is protesting.

Earth to Alex, 100% of Gaza is controlled by Hamas.
Israel does not control the Gaza Egypt border.
All Israel controls is the border from Gaza going into Israel, which ofcourse Israel is not going to let in Islamo crazies to blow up buses, disco’s and Pizzeria’s full of Israeli civilians.
Alex thinks resistance is Arab terrorists firing hundreds of rockets at Israeli civilians and he condemns Israel for defending itself against these Islamo fascists.

Chas do you really have no conception of what a joke you are ? Like is there anything more cringe inducing than a gentile that wants to be a Jew or a black man that wants to be a white man etc etc etccc You need to get some help vis a vis your identity crisis.

“Chas do you really have no conception of what a joke you are ? Like is there anything more cringe inducing than a gentile that wants to be a Jew or a black man that wants to be a white man etc etc etccc You need to get some help vis a vis your identity crisis.”

Unfortunately (for you) to make this comment work you would need a white man who wants to be black, not the other way around as you did here. Both interesting and telling.
Question: How badly do you want to be an Arab?

Since my dad is Jewish and my wife and kids are Jewish and my mum is good old West Cork ( Gods own country ) Irish Catholic I have so many identity crises I don’t know which way to turn so I kinda understand Chas.

“Since my dad is Jewish and my wife and kids are Jewish and my mum is good old West Cork ( Gods own country ) Irish Catholic I have so many identity crises I don’t know which way to turn so I kinda understand Chas.”
Wimp.

[…] Milne, an Associate Editors of The Guardian newspaper (aka: Al Guardian) says that it is OK for the palestinians to kill Israeli civilians with random rocket fire because they are not “intentionally” attacking civilian […]

Milne’s performance there reminds me of Lauren Booth at a rally in London:
Not content with calling Mark Regev an “Israeli killer zionist” and calling for “all ties between Europe and Israel” to be severed, she then screams “I don’t give a damn about Israel’s security!”

And to top it off she says “the world should take up arms against Israel”. She then immediately tries to qualify by saying “our arms our words.” Yeah right.